Tips on Reducing Your Stess Levels

First of all, I'm really proud of you, and the work you are doing to improve your life, remember, almost no one takes the time to really understand and improve themselves on this level!
 
If you are facing uncertainty or confusion from people around you about why you want to change, I want you encourage you to write some goals, really think about how the benefit of you being a healthier, happier person will make the lives of those around you better.
 
They may not see it yet, but they will!
 
As we continue to work on our stress-food connection, I want to revisit some very important points:
 

Eating At Scheduled Times

For those of you desiring to feel less stressed and  to find it easier to eat better,  you should try to stick to scheduled meal times. This will allow your ghrelin to kick in at the time you want it to.  For example, if you regularly have lunch around 1:30 pm, but have it around 12 on a certain days, then you are more likely to indulge in a snack later in the day. Maintaining regular scheduled time for your day’s big meals makes managing your dietary hormones much easier.


Remember that this is a two way street, as you decrease stress your hormones balance and make cravings diminish,  as your hormones balance you stress levels decrease. The opposite is also true.


Increasing Your Fiber Intake

Fiber not only suppresses ghrelin but also inhibits the levels of neuropeptide Y. Eating foods that are rich in fiber helps your hunger diminish, plus it has many other benefits. Vegetables and fruits should be your main source of fiber. Coconut flour is one of the highest fiber containing foods, swapping some of your traditional flour for ¼ cup of coconut flour will dramatically increase the fiber in any baked goods. White flour and sugar products are destructive to your body and should be eliminated.  


Getting Adequate Sleep

Adequate sleep also helps you control your hunger hormones. Research suggests that sleep impacts short as well as long term control of the hormones in the human body. People who sleep less than 7-8 hours are often overweight. Similarly, people who sleep adequately for 7-8 hours and have a much more controlled diet and often weigh less.  Sleep greatly helps you control your hormones, especially those that are in control of your hunger signals.


Controlling Your Stress

Stress normally increases the desire to indulge in junk food because stress causes hormone imbalances. If you regularly face stressful situations, you are prone to creating too much cortisol. To calm down you may reach for processed food and snacks containing high sugar content, which increase your insulin response. This becomes a self-increasing cycle, the junk food causes more cortisol to release and then greater demand for insulin. To minimize this, it is important to engage in activities that reduce stress, like yoga, meditation and exercise.
Remember you are in control of how much you worry, decide that worry is not serving you. Action will serve you better and put your mind at ease.
Jennifer
PS Its the last day for the Mermaid + NST evening tea sale!
and the Skinny Box bonus is still going through tomorrow!